BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Amazon drivers are alarmed after a fellow driver died in a possible dog mauling in Ray County on Monday.
Though the victim has yet to be identified, employees told KSHB 41 News that the driver was a father, who worked out of the Blue Springs Amazon Center for a-year-and-a-half.
Even though many see the Amazon logos on the sides of delivery vans, the company doesn't employee drivers itself.
Instead, Amazon outsources the jobs to local third-party contractors. The third-party's are considered Delivery Service Partners, or DSPs.
John Roushkolb is a flex driver and his own boss.
“Before I start every route, I text my wife a screenshot of the area I’m going to deliver in,” Roushkolb said.
In two years, he’s delivered more than 7,000 Amazon packages.
“I love doing it, it's a great way to make extra money,” he said.
On Tuesday, Roushkolb said the death of a fellow Amazon driver was surprising and unnerving.
“It’s a reminder that no matter how much we prepare as drivers, or how well we think we know the body language of dogs — something crazy could happen,” he said.
Roushkolb said drivers are trained on what to do when they see a dog, and they have a couple of delivery options, including calling dispatch or calling or texting the customer.
“We could say, 'Hey, there’s a dog on the property, what do you want me to do? How do you want me to handle it?” he said. “If you can’t get ahold of the customer or the dispatcher, then you can mark the package as undeliverable and take it back to the station. It’s rough for the customer, but the safety of the driver has to come first.”
The owners of the home are out of town, but have been notified about the incident.
On Tuesday, Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers said it's not clear if the property owners will face charges.
“It’s understood with the order, the expectation is that we are invited on property,” Roushkolb said.
Allen Rostron, a a law professor at UMKC, agrees.
Rostron said there’s an implied social custom that Amazon drivers can enter people’s property for the purpose of knocking or to drop something off.
He also said if there are "no trespassing" signs, that would negate the implied consent and could argue the person wasn’t lawfully there.
But, since a package was ordered, Rostron said more than likely the dog owner is responsible because of simply strict liability.
At the end of the day, Roushkolb says anything people can do to make it easier on drivers will help.
Roushkolb said customers can add notes inside their Amazon orders, describe what their property looks like, where they want the package delivered and what kind of animals are there.
He says it helps to over communicate on the delivery notes, and have well-lit house numbers or marked curbs.
“The only thing that going to change for me is — I’m going to be a little bit more aware when coming into the property," he said.
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